KR20150106920A - In-pixel capacitive touch sensor for led - Google Patents

Abstract

Display Pixel Touch screen with integrated touch circuit in stack up. The touch screen may comprise a transistor layer, an LED layer and a first layer. The first layer may operate as the LED cathode during the display step and as a touch circuit during the touch sensing step. The transistor layer may be at least partially used to switch between the display step and the touch sensing step. The touch screen can be fabricated to reduce or eliminate damage to the LED layer.

Description

IN-PIXEL CAPACITIVE TOUCH SENSOR FOR LED < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present disclosure relates generally to touch sensing, and more particularly to integrating touch circuits into a light emitting diode (LED) pixel stackup.

Many types of input devices are currently available for performing operations in a computing system, such as buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, joysticks, touch sensor panels, touch screens, and the like. In particular, touch screens are becoming more and more popular due to the drop in prices and ease of operation and flexibility. The touch screen may include a touch sensor panel, which may be a transparent panel having a touch sensitive surface, and a light emitting diode, which may be positioned partially or entirely behind the panel so that the touch sensitive surface covers at least a portion of the visible area of the display device. (LED) display (e.g., an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display). OLED displays are becoming more prevalent with advances in OLED technology.

The touch screen allows the user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensor panel with a finger, stylus, or other object at a location that is often indicated by a user interface (UI) displayed by the display device . Generally, the touch screen can recognize the touch and the position of the touch on the touch sensor panel, and then the computing system can interpret the touch according to the display that appears at the touch, and then, based on the touch, Operation can be performed. In some touch sensing systems, a physical touch on the display is not required to detect a touch. For example, in some capacitive touch sensing systems, the fringing field used to detect a touch may extend beyond the surface of the display, and an object approaching the surface may be located near the surface without actually touching the surface As shown in FIG.

Capacitive touch sensor panels are often formed from a matrix of sensing and driving lines of substantially transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), arranged in rows and columns in a horizontal and vertical direction on a substantially transparent substrate . As described above, capacitive touch sensor panels can overlay on an LED or OLED display to form a touch screen due in part to their substantial transparency (on-cell touch). However, it may be desirable to integrate the touch circuit into an LED or OLED display pixel stack up (i. E., Stacked material layers forming LED or OLED display pixels) (in-cell touch).

The following description includes examples of integrating the touch circuitry into the LED display pixel stack up of the touch screen device. The touch screen may include a transistor layer, an LED layer, and a first layer that may be configured to act as a touch panel during the touch step as a LED cathode during the display step. The transistor layer may be at least partially used to switch between the display step and the touch sensing step. In addition, the touch screen can be manufactured in such a manner to reduce or eliminate damage to the LED layer during fabrication.

Figure 1A shows an exemplary cellular phone including a touch screen.
1B shows an exemplary digital media player including a touch screen.
1C illustrates an exemplary personal computer including a touch screen.
2 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system illustrating one implementation of an exemplary touch screen in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.
3A is a more detailed view of a touch screen illustrating an exemplary configuration of a drive line and sense line according to an example of the present disclosure.
3B is a more detailed view of a touch screen illustrating another exemplary configuration of a drive line and sense line according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary configuration in which the common electrodes may form portions of the touch sensing circuit of the touch sensing system.
5 is a three-dimensional illustration of an exploded view of an exemplary display pixel stackup (decomposed in the z direction) showing some of the elements in the pixel stackups of the exemplary integrated touchscreen.
6 illustrates a partial circuit diagram of a portion of a touch sensitive circuit in display pixels in a sensing zone and an exemplary driving screen segment of an exemplary touch screen according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figure 7A shows an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit that may be used in a typical top emission OLED display.
FIG. 7B shows another exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit that may be used in a typical front-emitting OLED display.
Figure 7C shows an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit that may be used in an inverted OLED display.
8A and 8B illustrate an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit configuration of the touch screen of this disclosure and an operation for turning on and turning off the OLED element during the touch sensing and display phases.
Figures 9A-9D illustrate further exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit configurations of the touch screen of this disclosure and operation for turning on and off the OLED element during the touch sensing and display phases.
10 illustrates an exemplary front-emitting OLED material stack according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figures 11A and 11B-1 through 11B-5 illustrate an exemplary process for patterning a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figures 12A and 12B-1 through 12B-5 illustrate another exemplary process for patterning a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figures 13A and 13B-1 to 13B-6 illustrate another exemplary process for patterning a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure.
14A and 14B illustrate an exemplary manner of lowering the sheet resistance of the cathode layer according to the example of this disclosure.
15A and 15B-1 to 15B-6 illustrate an exemplary process for forming a drive line connection on OLED layers according to the example of this disclosure.
Figures 16A-1 through 16A-3 and Figures 16B-1 through 16B-3 illustrate an exemplary process for performing shadow mask deposition of a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure.
Figures 17A-1, 17A-2, and 17B-1 through 17B-3 illustrate an exemplary process for performing laser ablation to form driving and sensing segments in accordance with the example of this disclosure .
18A-18C and 18D-1 through 18D-3 illustrate an exemplary process for modifying the distance between adjacent OLED emissive layers in accordance with the examples of this disclosure.

In the following description of the examples, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific example in which examples of the present disclosure may be practiced. It should be understood that other examples may be used and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the examples in this disclosure.

Many types of input devices for performing operations in a computing system are currently available. In particular, touch screens are becoming more and more popular due to the drop in prices and ease of operation and flexibility. The touch screen may include a touch sensor panel, which may be a transparent panel having a touch sensitive surface, and a light emitting diode, which may be positioned partially or entirely behind the panel so that the touch sensitive surface covers at least a portion of the visible area of the display device. (LED) display (e.g., an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display). OLED displays are becoming more prevalent with advances in OLED technology.

The touch screen may allow the user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensor panel using a finger, stylus, or other object at a location that is often indicated by a user interface (UI) displayed by the display device. Generally, the touch screen can recognize the touch and the position of the touch on the touch sensor panel, and then the computing system can interpret the touch according to the display that appears at the touch, and then, based on the touch, Operation can be performed. In some touch sensing systems, a physical touch on the display is not required to detect a touch. For example, in some capacitive touch sensing systems, the edge electric field used to detect the touch may extend beyond the surface of the display, and objects approaching the surface may be detected near the surface without actually touching the surface have.

Capacitive touch sensor panels can be formed from a matrix of sensing and actuation lines of substantially transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), often arranged in rows and columns in a horizontal and vertical direction on a substantially transparent substrate. As described above, capacitive touch sensor panels can overlay on the LED or OLED display to form a touch screen, in part due to their substantial transparency (on-cell touch). However, it may be desirable to integrate the touch circuit into an LED or OLED display pixel stack up (i. E., Stacked material layers forming LED or OLED display pixels) (in-cell touch).

1A-1C illustrate an exemplary system in which a touch screen according to an example of the present disclosure may be implemented. 1A illustrates an exemplary cellular telephone 136 that includes a touch screen 124. As shown in FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary digital media player 140 that includes a touch screen 126. 1C illustrates an exemplary personal computer 144 that includes a touch screen 128. Although not shown in the drawings, the personal computer 144 may also be a tablet computer or a desktop computer with a touch sensitive display. The touch screens 124, 126, and 128 may be based on, for example, self capacitance or mutual capacitance, or other touch sensing techniques. For example, in a self-capacitance based touch system, individual electrodes with self-capacitance to ground can be used to form touch pixels (touch nodes) for touch detection. When an object approaches the touch pixel, additional capacitance to ground can be formed between the object and the touch pixel. The additional capacitance to ground can cause a net increase in the magneto-capacitance seen in the touch pixel position. This increase in self-capacitance can be detected and measured by the touch sensing system to determine their position when a plurality of objects touch the touch screen. The mutual capacitance-based touch system may include a drive zone and a sensing zone, such as, for example, a drive line and a sense line. For example, the drive lines may be formed in rows, while the sense lines may be formed in heat (e.g., orthogonal). The touch pixels (touch nodes) can be formed at the intersection of rows and columns or at adjacent locations (in single layer configurations). During operation, the row may be excited with an AC waveform and mutual capacitance may be formed between rows and columns of touch pixels. When an object approaches a touch pixel, some of the charge coupling between the row and column of the touch pixel may instead be coupled onto the object. This reduction in charge coupling across the touch pixel can result in a net reduction in the mutual capacitance between the row and the column and a reduction in the AC waveform being coupled across the touch pixel. This reduction in the charge-coupled AC waveform can be detected and measured by the touch sensing system to determine their position when a plurality of objects touches the touch screen. In some instances, the touch screen may be a multi-touch, a single touch, a projection scan, a full-imaging multi-touch, or any capacitive touch.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 200 representing one implementation of an exemplary touch screen 220 in accordance with the present example. The computing system 200 may be included in any mobile or non-mobile computing device, including, for example, a mobile phone 136, a digital media player 140, a personal computer 144, or a touch screen. The computing system 200 may include a touch sensitive system including one or more touch processors 202, a peripheral device 204, a touch controller 206, and a touch sensitive circuit (described in more detail below). The peripheral device 204 may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM) or other types of memory or storage devices, a watchdog timer, and the like. The touch controller 206 may include, but is not limited to, one or more sense channels 208, channel scan logic 210, and driver logic 214. The channel scan logic 210 may access the RAM 212, autonomously read data from the sense channel, and provide control to the sense channel. In addition, the channel scan logic 210 may generate an excitation signal at various frequencies and / or phases that may be selectively applied to the driving region of the touch sensing circuitry of the touch screen 220, (214) to generate a stimulation signal (216). In some instances, the touch controller 206, the touch processor 202, and the peripheral device 204 may be integrated into one application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system 200 may also include a host processor 228 for receiving the output from the touch processor 202 and for performing operations based on the output. For example, the host processor 228 may be connected to a display controller, such as a program storage device 232, and an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) driver 234. Although the examples of this disclosure have been described with respect to AMOLED displays, it is understood that the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not so limited and can be extended to other types of LED displays, such as passive matrix organic light emitting diode (PMOLED) displays.

The host processor 228 may utilize the AMOLED driver 234 to generate an image on the touch screen 220 such as an image of a user interface The touch controller 202 and the touch controller 206 can be used to detect a touch on or near the touch pad 202 or 220. [ Touch input may include moving an object such as a cursor or a pointer, scrolling and panning, adjusting control settings, opening a file or document, viewing a menu, selecting commands, executing commands, , Answer a phone call, make a call, end a phone call, change volume or audio settings, save information about a phone call such as an address, a busy number, a received call, a missed call, Allowing authenticated individual access to restricted areas of the computer or computer network, loading user profiles associated with user preferences of the computer desktop, allowing access to web content, launching specific programs, encrypting messages Or decryption, and / or the like, but not limited to, It may be used by a computer program stored in the program storage device 232 to perform. The host processor 228 may also perform additional functions that may not be related to touch processing.

The touch screen 220 may include a touch sensing circuit that may include a capacitive sensing medium having a plurality of drive lines 222 and a plurality of sense lines 223. [ The term "line" is used herein to refer solely to a conductive path, as is readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains, but is limited to strictly linear elements. It should be noted that it is not meant to be inclusive but includes paths that change directions and include paths of different sizes, shapes, materials, and the like. The drive line 222 may be driven by an excitation signal 216 from the driver logic 214 via the drive interface 224 and the final sense signal 217 generated by the sense line 223 may be driven by the sense interface 216 (Also referred to as event detection and demodulation circuitry) within the touch controller 206 through the sense amplifiers 225 and 225. In this manner, the drive line and sense line are part of a touch sensing circuit that can interact to form a capacitive sensing node, which may be considered a touch picture element (touch pixel), such as touch pixels 226 and 227 . This understanding may be particularly useful when the touch screen 220 is viewed as capturing an "image" of a touch. That is, after the touch controller 206 determines whether a touch has been detected at each touch pixel of the touch screen, the pattern of touch pixels on the touch screen where the touch has occurred is an "image" of the touch (e.g., The pattern of the finger to be touched).

In some instances, the touch screen 220 may be an integral touch screen, in which the touch sensitive circuit elements of the touch sensitive system may be integrated into the display pixel stack up of the display. An exemplary integrated touch screen on which an example of the present disclosure may be implemented will now be described with reference to Figures 3-6. 3A is a more detailed view of touch screen 220 showing an exemplary configuration of drive line 222 and sense line 223 in accordance with the present example. As shown in FIG. 3A, each of the drive lines 222 may be formed of one or more drive line segments 301 that can be electrically connected by a drive line link 303 at a connection point 305. The drive line link 303 may not be electrically connected to the sense line 223, but rather the drive line link may bypass the sense line via the bypass 307. [ The driving line 222 and the sensing line 223 may capacitively interact to form touch pixels such as the touch pixels 226 and 227. [ The drive line 222 (i.e., the drive line segment 301 and the corresponding drive line link 303) and the sense line 223 may be formed of electrical circuit elements within the touch screen 220. 3A, each of the touch pixels 226, 227 may include a portion of one drive line segment 301, a portion of the sense line 223, and a portion of another drive line segment . For example, the touch pixel 226 may include a right-half portion 309 of the drive line segment 301 on one side of the portion 311 of the sense line, a portion 311 of the sense line A left-half portion 313 of the drive line segment on the opposite side of the drive line segment.

3B is a more detailed view of touch screen 220 showing another exemplary configuration of drive line 222 and sense line 223 in accordance with the example of the present disclosure. Each sense line 223 may be formed as one or more sense line segments 313 that can be electrically connected by a sense line link 315 at a connection 317, as shown in FIG. 3B. The sense line link 315 is not electrically connected to the drive line 222, but rather the sense line link can bypass the drive line via the bypass 319. [ The driving line 222 and the sensing line 223 may capacitively interact to form touch pixels, such as the touch pixels 226 and 227. The drive line 222 and the sense line 223 (i.e., the sense line segment 315 and the corresponding sense line link 315) may be formed of electrical circuit elements in the touch screen 220. In the example of FIG. 3B, each touch pixel 226, 227 may include a portion of the drive line 222 and a sense line segment 313. For example, the touch pixel 226 may include a portion 321 of the drive line 222 and a sense line segment 323. For ease of description, examples of the present disclosure will be described using the exemplary configuration of FIG. 3A, but it is understood that the examples of the present disclosure are not limited to such configurations.

The circuit elements in the touch screen 220 may include elements that may be present in the AMOLED display, for example, as described above. It should be noted that the circuit elements are not limited to the entire circuit components such as the entire capacitor, the entire transistor, etc., and may include a portion of the circuit, such as only one of the two plates of the parallel plate capacitor. 4 illustrates an exemplary configuration in which the common electrode 401 may form portions of the touch sensing circuit of the touch sensitive system. Each display pixel 407 includes a plurality of display pixels 407, each of which may be operable as part of a display system for displaying an image, such as a display (not shown) within a pixel stack up of display pixels of a certain type of AMOLED display And may include a portion of the common electrode 401 which is a circuit element of the system circuit.

In the example shown in Fig. 4, each common electrode 401 serves as a multifunctional circuit element that can act as the display circuit of the display system of the touch screen 220 and can also act as the touch sensing circuit of the touch sensing system can do. In this example, each common electrode 401 can act as a common electrode of the display circuit of the touch screen 220, and can also act as a touch sensitive circuit of the touch screen when grouped together with other common electrodes have. For example, the common electrode 401 may act as a capacitive portion of the drive line (i.e., the drive line segment 403) or as the capacitive sensing line 405 of the touch sensing circuit during the touch sensing phase. Other circuit elements of the touch screen 220 may form part of the touch sensing circuit by, for example, switching electrical connections or the like. In general, each touch sensing circuit element can be a multifunctional circuit element that can form part of a touch sensing circuit and can perform one or more other functions, such as the forming portion of a display circuit, Functional circuit element that can be used to power the device. Similarly, each display circuit element can be a multifunctional circuit element that can act as a display circuit and perform one or more other functions such as operating as a touch sensitive circuit, or can be a single- May be a functional circuit element. Thus, in some examples, some of the circuit elements in the display pixel stackups may be multifunctional circuit elements and the other circuit elements may be single-function circuit elements. In other examples, all of the circuit elements of the display pixel stackups may be single-function circuit elements.

Also, while the examples herein may describe a touch sensitive circuit as describing a display circuit as operating during the display phase and operating during the touch sensing phase, the display phase and the touch sensing phase may simultaneously, for example, , Or the display step and the touch sensing step may operate at different times. In addition, it should be understood that the examples herein illustrate certain circuit elements as being multifunctional and other circuit elements as being single-function, although circuit elements are not limited to specific functions in other instances. In other words, the circuit elements described herein as single-function circuit elements in one example can be configured as multifunctional circuit elements in other examples, and vice versa.

The multifunctional circuit elements of the display pixels of the touch screen may operate in both the display step and the touch sensing step. For example, during the touch sensing step, the common electrode 401 may form touch signal lines, such as a driving area and a sensing area. In some instances, circuit elements may be grouped to form one type of continuous touch signal line and another type of segmented touch signal line. 4 illustrates one example in which the drive line segment 403 and the sense line 405 correspond to the drive line segment 301 and the sense line 223 of the touch screen 220. For example, Other configurations are possible in other examples; For example, common electrodes 401 may be provided such that each of the drive lines is formed into a continuous drive zone and each of the sense lines is formed into a plurality of sense zone segments linked together through a connection that bypasses the drive zone Which is shown in the example of Fig. 3b.

In the examples of Figures 3A and 4, the driving zones are shown as rectangular zones comprising a plurality of display pixels, and the sensing zones of Figures 3A, 3B and 4 include a plurality of display pixels extending the vertical length of the AMOLED display Lt; / RTI > In some examples, the touch pixel in the configuration of FIG. 4 may include, for example, a 64x64 area of display pixels. However, the driving and sensing zones are not limited to the shapes, orientations and positions shown, but may include any suitable configurations in accordance with the examples of this disclosure. It should also be appreciated that the display pixels included in the touch pixels are not limited to those mentioned above, but may be any suitable size or shape that enables touch capabilities in accordance with the examples of this disclosure.

5 is a three-dimensional view of an exploded view (decomposed in the z direction) of exemplary display pixel stackups 500 showing some of the elements in the pixel stackups of the exemplary integrated touchscreen 550. FIG. The stack-up 500 may include a configuration of conductive lines that may be used to link the drive zone segments to form the drive lines.

The stack-up 500 may include elements in a first metal (M1) layer 501, a second metal (M2) layer 503, and a common electrode layer 505. Each display pixel may include a portion of the common electrode 509, such as the common electrodes 401 of FIG. 4, formed in the common electrode layer 505. At some display pixels, a break 513 is included in the common electrode 509 to separate the different segments of the common electrodes such that the drive zone segment 515, such as the drive line segment 403 and the sense line 405, A sensing zone 517 may be formed. The disconnection 513 includes x-direction cuts that can separate the drive zone segment 515 from the sensing zone 517 and a y-direction that can separate one drive zone segment 515 from another drive zone segment Lt; / RTI > The M1 layer 501 electrically couples the drive zone segment 515 via a connection, such as a conductive via 521, which is capable of electrically connecting the tunnel line 519 to common electrodes in the drive zone segment display pixels. And may include a tunnel line 519 connectable thereto. The tunnel line 519 may lead through the display pixels in the sensing area 517 without any connection to the common electrode 509 in the sensing area, i.e., without any vias 521 in the sensing area. The M1 layer may also include a gate line 520. The M2 layer 503 may include a data line 523. Only one gate line 520 and one data line 523 are shown for clarity; However, the touch screen may include a gate line that extends through each horizontal row of display pixels and a plurality of data lines that extend through each vertical row of display pixels, e.g., within each pixel in a vertical row of an RGB AMOLED display- And one data line for each red, green, and blue (RGB) color subpixel. Although the M1 layer 501 is shown as being under the M2 layer 503 shown as being below the common electrode layer 505, the ordering of the elements in each of these layers as well as the ordering of these layers in the z- It is understood that it may be different from that shown in Fig. For example, the elements in the M1 layer 501 (e.g., tunnel line 519 and gate line 520) may instead be in the M2 layer or distributed between different metal layers.

Structures such as tunnel lines 519 and conductive vias 521 may operate as the touch sensing circuit of the touch sensing system to detect touch during the touch sensing phase of the touch screen 550. Structures such as the data line 523 may be used to display an image on the touch screen 550 during the display step with other pixel stack up elements such as a transistor (not shown), a pixel electrode, a common voltage line, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI > display system. Structures such as the common electrode 509 may operate as multifunctional circuit elements that may operate as part of both the touch sensing system and the display system.

For example, in operation during the touch sensing phase, the gate line 520 may be held at a fixed voltage while a row of drive zone segments (not shown) connected by the tunnel line 519 and the conductive via 521 515 may generate an electric field between the excitation drive segment segment and the sensing area 517 to generate a touch pixel such as the touch pixel 226 of FIG. In this manner, a row of coupled drive segment segments 515 may operate as a drive line, such as drive line 222, and a sense zone 517 may operate as a sense line, such as sense line 223 . When an object such as a finger approaches or touches the touch pixel, the object may affect the electric fields extending between the drive zone segments 515 and the sensing zone 517, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > capacitively < / RTI > This reduction in charge can be detected by the sense channel of the touch sensitive controller connected to the touch screen 550, such as the touch controller 206 shown in FIG. 2, May be stored in memory with similar information of the touch pixels.

A touch sensing operation according to an example of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 6 illustrates a partial circuit diagram of a portion of a touch sensitive circuit in display pixels of a sensing zone 603 and an exemplary driving screen segment 601 of an exemplary touch screen in accordance with the examples of this disclosure. For clarity, only one drive zone segment is shown. Also for clarity, FIG. 6 includes circuit elements shown in phantom to mean that some of the circuit elements operate primarily as part of the display circuit, rather than as a touch sensitive circuit. In addition, a touch sensitive operation is described primarily in terms of a single display pixel 601a of the drive zone segment 601 and a single display pixel 603a of the sensing zone 603. However, other display pixels of the drive zone segment 601 may include the same touch sensing circuit as described below for the display pixel 601a, and other display pixels of the sensing zone 603 may include a display pixel 603a May include the same touch sensing circuitry as described below for < RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI > Thus, the description of the operation of the display pixel 601a and the display pixel 603a can be regarded as a description of the operation of the drive zone segment 601 and the sensing zone 603, respectively.

Referring to Figure 6, the drive zone segment 601 may comprise a plurality of display pixels including a display pixel 601a. The display pixel 601a includes a transistor 607 such as a thin film transistor (TFT), a data line 611, a V _DD line 613, an LED element such as an OLED element 615, and a portion 619 of the common electrode 617 ). The sensing zone 603 may include a plurality of display pixels including a display pixel 603a. The display pixel 603a may include a transistor 620 such as a TFT 609, a data line 612, an LED element such as an OLED element 616 and a portion 620 of the common electrode 618. The TFT 609 may be connected to the same V _DD line 613 as the TFT 607. [

During the touch sensing phase, the OLED elements 615 and 616 can be kept off, the details of which will be described later. The driving signal may be applied to the common electrode 617 through the tunnel line 621. [ The drive signal can create an electric field 623 between the common electrode 617 of the drive zone segment 601 and the common electrode 618 of the sensing zone 603 and the common electrode 618 of the sensing zone 603, May be connected to a sense amplifier, such as a charge amplifier 626. [ Charge may be injected into the common electrode 618 of the sensing area 603 and the charge amplifier 626 may convert the injected charge to a voltage that can be measured. The amount of charge injected and the resulting measured voltage may depend on the proximity of the touch object, such as the finger 627, to the drive zone 601 and the sensing zone 603. In this way, the measured voltage can provide an indication of a touch on or near the touch screen.

The operation of a part of the display circuit of the AMOLED touch screen during the display step according to the example of this disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 7A to 7C. 7A shows an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit 750 that may be used in a general over-discharge OLED display. Details of full emission and back emission OLEDs will be described later. The pixel circuit 750 includes an OLED element 701 having two terminals (a cathode terminal and an anode terminal), a p-type transistor such as a TFT (T2) 705 and an n-type transistor such as a TFT can do. The cathode terminal of the OLED element 701 may be electrically connected to the cathode 703. [ The cathode 703 may be a signal line common to a plurality of pixel circuits in the touch screen, and may correspond to common electrodes 401 and 509, for example. The anode terminal of the OLED element 701 may be electrically connected to the anode 709. [ The OLED element 701 is connected to the cathode (not shown) in a manner that allows electricity to flow through the OLED element (i.e., the OLED element is on or "forward biased") when the voltage at the anode is higher than the voltage at the cathode 703, and an anode 709, respectively. The OLED element 701 can emit light when it is on. When the voltage at the anode 709 is lower than the voltage at the cathode 703, substantially no current flows through the OLED element 701 (i.e., the OLED element is turned off or "backward biased"). OLED element 701 may not emit substantially light when it is off.

The anode 709 may be electrically connected to the drain terminal of the T2 (705). The gate and source terminals of T2 (705) are a capacitor (C _st; 711) one of the terminals of the can and, C _st is capacitively coupled via may be electrically connected to the gate terminal of T2, the other of C _st Terminal may be electrically connected to the source terminal of T2. The source terminal of T2 (705) may be further electrically connected to V _DD (713). The gate terminal of T2 (705) may be additionally electrically connected to the drain terminal of T1 (707). The gate terminal of T1 may be electrically connected to the gate line 715 and the source terminal of T1 may be electrically connected to the data line 717. [

7B shows another exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit 752 that may be used in a general over-discharge OLED display. In Fig. 7B, T2 719 may be an n-type TFT instead of a p-type TFT as in Fig. 7A. Thus, the source terminal of T2 719 may be electrically connected to anode 709, and the drain terminal of T2 may be electrically connected to V _DD 713. [ The gate and source terminals of T2 719 may continue to be capacitively coupled through capacitor C _st (711). The remaining elements of the pixel circuit 752 may be the same as the pixel circuit 750 of FIG. 7A.

7C shows an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit 754 that may be used in an inverted OLED display. In the case of an inverted OLED display, the anode 709, rather than the cathode 703, may be a common electrode, and the anode may be above the OLED element 701. [ The configuration of T2 719, _Cst 711, T1 707, and other circuit elements may be the same as that of FIG. 7b. However, the cathode terminal of the OLED element 701 can be electrically connected to the drain terminal of the T2 719, and the anode terminal of the OLED element can be electrically connected to the V _DD 713.

Referring to FIG. 7A, during the display step of the touch screen according to the example of the present disclosure, the OLED element 701 can be forward biased (and thus current can flow through it) have. The voltage at the gate line 715 may be high enough to turn on T1 707 (i.e., the gate-source voltage of T1 may be high enough to turn on T1 to allow current to flow through the OLED element 701) Can be high). When T1 707 is on, T1 can substantially operate as a short and the voltage at data line 717 can be mirrored substantially at the gate terminal of T2 705. [ The voltage at the data line 717 and therefore the voltage at the gate terminal of T2 705 may be low enough to turn on T2 705 (i.e., the gate-to-source voltage of T2 turns on T2 Can be low enough). If T2 (705) is on, T2 may operate substantially as a short, and the voltage at V _DD (713) may be substantially reflected at anode (709). The voltage at anode 709 and therefore the voltage at V _DD 713 may be higher than the voltage at cathode 703 so that OLED element 701 is forward biased. When this happens, the OLED element 701 can be forward biased, allowing current to flow through it, and emitting light. Although this description is provided with respect to the circuit of Fig. 7a, it is understood that the operation of the circuits of Figs. 7b and 7c is substantially similar to that of the circuit of Fig. 7a. Moreover, for clarity, the following examples will be presented with respect to the structure of the circuit of FIG. 7A; However, it is understood that the examples can be adjusted to be used with the circuits of Figs. 7B and 7C. For example, the voltage at the gate terminal of the p-type TFT may be low enough to turn on the p-type TFT, while the opposite may be true for the n-type TFT; That is, the voltage at the gate terminal of the n-type TFT can be high enough to turn on the n-type TFT. Such modifications may be extended to the circuits of Figures 7B and 7C to permit proper operation.

To facilitate operation of the AMOLED touchscreen in accordance with the example of this disclosure, portions of the display circuitry of the touchscreen may be turned off during the touch sensing phase of the touchscreen and turned on during the display phase of the touchscreen. Exemplary turn-off operations will be described with reference to Figs. 8 and 9A-9C. 8 and 9A-9C, display circuits using a p-type TFT are provided as shown in Fig. 7A, but the circuits of Figs. 7B and 7C are similarly used in the structures of Figs. 8 and 9A-9C Can be understood.

8A and 8B illustrate an exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit 850 configuration of the touch screen of the present disclosure and an operation for turning on and off the OLED element during the touch sensing and display phases. The circuit configuration of Figs. 8A and 8B is the same as that of Fig. 7A, and a partial circuit diagram of the circuit of Fig. 7A is provided in Fig. 8A shows the voltage at V _DD 801 during the switch to the pixel circuit off step in the pixel circuit on step. During the pixel circuit on phase, the voltage at V _DD 801 may be V _ON . V _ON can be sufficiently high as described with reference to FIG. 7A, so that OLED element 803 can be forward biased. All of the other voltages of the circuit are set so that the circuit can operate as described with reference to Figure 7A.

The voltage at the gate line 711 (not shown in FIG. 8B) of FIG. 7A is applied to T1 707 (not shown in FIG. 8B) in order to switch to the touch sensing stage where OLED element 803 may be off Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > off. ≪ / RTI > This may result in a voltage at the gate terminal of T2 (805) to be floating. The gate terminal of T2 805 may be capacitively coupled to the source terminal of T2 through C _st 807 so that the difference between the gate voltage of T2 and the source voltage is substantially constant as long as the gate of T2 is floating (I.e., C _st can substantially hold the gate to the source voltage of T 2). Thus, T2 805 may remain independent of the voltage at V _DD 801. [

T2 805 may remain regardless of the voltage at V _DD 801, so that the voltage at V _DD can be lowered from V _ON to V _OFF while maintaining T2 at the ON state. T2 805 may remain on, so that it can operate substantially like a short circuit, so that the voltage at V _DD 801 can be substantially reflected at the anode 809. If V _OFF is less than the voltage at cathode 811, OLED element 803 may be reverse biased as described above. As such, the OLED element 803 may be off and may not emit light substantially, thus turning off the pixel circuit 850.

During the touch sensing phase, when the pixel circuit 850 is off, the cathode 811 can be used as part of the touch sensing circuit (i.e., as part of the common electrode 617) As shown in FIG. The voltage at V _DD 801 during the touch sensing phase V _OFF may be low enough so that the range of voltages may be present at the cathode 811 during the touch sensing phase therethrough and the OLED element 803 may be low- And may therefore remain off. For example, if the voltage at the cathode 811 can vary from -5V to + 5V during the touch sensing phase, then V _OFF can be reduced to -5V to ensure that the OLED element 803 can remain in a reverse biased state ≪ / RTI > For the transition from the off state back to the on state, the above steps may be reversed to enable the display phase operation to resume.

FIGS. 9A-9D illustrate further exemplary AMOLED pixel circuit configurations and touch sensing steps of the touch screen of this disclosure and operations for turning on and off OLED elements during the display step. The AMOLED pixel circuit 950 of Figure 9B is characterized in that an additional p-type TFT (T _EM1 ; 915) positioned between T2 and the OLED element can be electrically connected in series with T2 905 and the OLED element 903 7A. ≪ / RTI > During the display phase of the touch screen, the voltage at the gate terminal of T _EM1 915 (V _G-EM ) 913 may be low enough to allow T _EM1 to turn on. When turned on, T _EM1 915 may operate substantially as a short-circuit and may not substantially affect the current flowing through OLED element 903. The remaining elements of the pixel circuit 950 may operate as described with reference to Figure 7a. To turn the OLED element 903 off during the touch sensing phase of a touch screen (i.e., to through the OLED element stop the current flowing) is V to be high enough to be a T _EM1 (915) _off-G-EM RTI ID = 0.0 > 913 < / RTI > When turned off, T _EM1 915 operates substantially as an open-circuit, so that current can be substantially prevented from flowing through OLED element 903. As a result, this may result in turning off the OLED element 903. In this manner, the voltage at V _DD 901 need not be adjusted as described with reference to FIG. 8 to turn off pixel circuit 950. 9A shows the voltage at the V _G-EM 913 during the display phase of the touch screen and the touch sensing phase.

Figures 9c and 9d illustrate an alternative configuration that is the pixel circuit of Figure 9b but can operate in substantially the same way. 9C, T _EM1 915 can be positioned between V _DD (901) and T2 instead of between T2 (905) and OLED element 903; However, the pixel circuit 952 of FIG. 9C may alternatively operate in the same manner as the circuit of FIG. 9B. 9D shows a pixel circuit 954 having two p-type TFTs electrically connected in series with T2 905: T _EM1 915 and T _EM2 916. T _EM1 915 can be positioned between T2 905 and OLED element 903 and T _EM2 916 can be positioned between T2 and V _DD 901. [ During the touch sensing phase of the touch screen, T _EM1 915 and T _EM2 916 may be turned off in the manner described above with reference to Fig. 9b. During the display phase of the touch screen, T _EM1 915 and T _EM2 916 may be turned on in the manner described above with reference to Figure 9b.

Although T _EM1 915 and T _EM2 916 are described as being p-type transistors such as TFTs, one or both of them may be replaced by n-type TFTs if the voltages required to turn them on and off are inverse to those described above ≪ / RTI > That is, yieotdamyeon T _EM1 (915) with the n-type TFT, the voltage required at V _G-EM (913) to turn on T _EM1 will high, the voltage required at V _G-EM to turn off T _EM1 will be low . Appropriate modifications to the above-described operations may permit proper operation of the pixel circuits described.

Examples of the present disclosure may be implemented in many types of LED displays, including both front-emitting OLED displays and backside emitting OLEDs. In backside OLED displays, transistors such as TFTs, metal routing, capacitors and OLED layers can share regions on the substrate glass. As the OLED layers can share space with TFTs, metal routing and capacitors, the remaining area for use by the OLED layers can be limited. This results in small area OLED layers, which may require a high driving current density to produce sufficient OLED light emission. In front emission OLED displays, OLED layers can be formed on top of the TFT layers, which can provide OLED layers with less area limitation compared to backside emission OLED displays. Therefore, a lower driving current density may be required to produce sufficient OLED light emission.

10 illustrates an exemplary front-emitting OLED material stack 1050 according to an example of the present disclosure. The TFT layer 1001 may include various circuit elements of the pixel circuits of Figures 7, 8 or 9, including T2 905, T _EM1 915, or T _EM2 916. The PLN 1003 may be a planar layer for providing a substantially planar layer for electrically isolating circuit elements of the TFT layer 1001 from the upper layers and for facilitating fabrication of the layers thereon. The anode 1007 may provide electrical connection between the circuit elements of the TFT layer 1001 and the OLED layer 1009. The anode 1007 may correspond to the anodes 709, 809, and / or 909. The OLED layer 1009 may correspond to the OLED elements 616, 701, 803 and / or 903. The PDL 1005 may be a layer for electrically insulating an adjacent anode 1007 from the OLED layer 1009. [ Finally, the cathode 1011 may provide electrical connection to the OLED layer 1009 and may correspond to, for example, the cathodes 703, 811, and / or 911. The anode 1007 and the cathode 1011 may be formed of conductive materials; For example, the cathode may be formed of many different types of transparent conductive materials, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). During the display step of the touch screen, when current flows from the TFT layer 1001 through the anode 1007 and the OLED layer 1009 to the cathode 1011, the OLED layer can be turned on and emits light through the cathode The image can be displayed on the touch screen.

To facilitate operation of the examples of this disclosure, the cathode 1011 of FIG. 10 may be patterned such that during the touch sensing phase, the cathode may operate as separate driving and sensing segments, and during the display step, It may be desirable to be able to operate as a common electrode for the pixel circuits. It may therefore be necessary to electrically isolate portions of the cathode 1011 to form segments such as the drive line segment 301 and the sense line 223 as shown in Figure 3A, Such as drive links 303, between adjacent drive line segments to form an electrical connection. However, the OLED layer 1009 under the cathode 1011 can be sensitive to the process steps that are taken following the formation of the cathode, which can make it difficult to pattern the cathode as described above. 11 to 17 illustrate various methods for providing the structure of the above-described cathode.

Unless otherwise noted, the removal of openings or materials of vias in the exemplary processes of this disclosure can be achieved by a combination of photolithography and etching. Photolithography can be used to define the desired etch pattern on the surface of the material to be patterned, and etching of the material according to the desired etch pattern can remove desired portions of the material. Etching of the material may be performed by using any suitable etch process, including, but not limited to, dry etching or wet etching. In addition, unless otherwise stated, the deposition or formation of materials includes physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electrochemical deposition (ECD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) But not limited to, any suitable deposition process.

11A and 11B illustrate an exemplary process for patterning a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure. 11A shows a top view of a patterned cathode structure 1150 according to an example of the present disclosure. The drive line segments 1101 may be on either side of the sense line 1103 and may be electrically isolated from the sense line by an isolation slit 1110. Both drive line segments 1101 and sense lines 1103 may be formed with the cathode 1011 of FIG. OLED layers 1105 may be below drive line segments 1101 and sense line 1103 and may correspond to OLED layers 1009 of FIG. The driving line segments 1101 may be electrically connected to each other through the anode connection portion 1107. [ The anode connection portion 1107 may be formed of the anode 1007 of FIG. 10 and may be positioned between adjacent OLED layers 1105 so as not to overlap any of the OLED layers. The anode connection 1107 may be electrically connected to the drive line segments 1101 through the via 1109. [ The process steps for fabricating the patterned cathode structure 1150 of FIG. 11A will be described with reference to FIG. 11B, which shows a cross-sectional view of cross section X-Y at each process step.

Figure 11b-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. The anode connection portion 1107 may be formed on the PLN 1111. The anode connection portion 1107 may be formed at the same time as the anode 1007 of FIG. 10 and of the same material, but may be electrically isolated from the anode 1007 and may be in a different region of the touch screen (i.e., Layers 1105 do not overlap). An organic passivation 1113 can be formed on the anode connection 1107 and the via 1109 can be opened to allow connection to the anode connection 1107. [ OLED layer 1105 may be formed in other areas of the touch screen (as shown in FIG. 11A, not shown in FIG. 11B). Finally, the cathode 1115 may be blanket deposited in the via 1109 and above the organic passivation 1113.

Figure 11b-2 shows the next step in the exemplary process. A thin film encapsulation layer (TFE1) 1117 may be formed on the cathode 1115. [ Thin film sealing layers, such as TFE1 1117, with good barrier properties, can protect the OLED layers 1105 below them from subsequent process steps such as photolithography and etching. Here, TFE1 1117 can protect the OLED layer 1105 from the next steps of the process.

Figure 11b-3 shows the next step of the exemplary process. TFE1 1117 may be etched to partially open isolation slit 1110. [ OLED layers 1105 in other areas of the touch screen may be protected from etching of TFE1 1117 in isolation slits 1110 due to the coverage of TFE1 in such areas.

Figure 11b-4 shows the next step in the exemplary process. The cathode 1115 may be etched to complete the opening of the insulating slit 1110. [ By the etching of the cathode 1115 in this step, the drive line segments 1101 and the sense line 1103 can be defined and the drive line segments 1101 can be defined by the conductive lines between the drive line segments and the sense line Can be electrically isolated from the sensing line 1103 due to the removal of the cathode material. As described above, the OLED layers 1105 in other areas of the touch screen are not etched in the isolation slits 1110 because the coverage of TFE1 1117 in such areas can protect the OLED layers. / RTI >

Figure 11B-5 shows the final step of the exemplary process. The thin film encapsulation layer (TFE2; 1119) may be blanket deposited as a final protective layer on the material stack. As shown, the drive line segments 1101 may be electrically connected to one another via another through via 1109 and an anode connection 1107. [ The drive line segments 1101 may be electrically isolated from the sense line 1103 by the isolation slit 1110. Through the above-described process, fabrication of the driving and sense line structures of Fig. 3A can be achieved on OLED layers.

Although the steps of the above process are presented in a particular order, it is understood that the ordering of process steps may be modified where appropriate. Such modifications may also be made to the processes illustrated in the remainder of this disclosure.

12A and 12B illustrate another exemplary process for patterning the cathode layer according to the example of this disclosure. FIG. 12A shows the same plan view of the patterned cathode structure 1250 as shown in FIG. 11A. The process steps of FIG. 12B may be the same as the process steps of FIG. 11B except that in FIG. 12B-4 the cathode 1215 may be oxidized instead of etching at isolation slits 1210. Oxidation of the electrically conductive material, such as the cathode 1215, can reduce the conductivity of the material to substantially the electrical conductivity of the electrical insulator. Thus, oxidation of the cathode 1215 in the isolation slits 1210 can electrically isolate adjacent portions of the cathode, thereby forming drive line segments 1201 and sense line 1203. In all other respects, the process of Fig. 12 may be the same as the process of Fig.

13A and 13B illustrate another exemplary process for patterning the cathode layer according to the example of this disclosure. Instead of electrically connecting adjacent drive line segments 1301 through the electrical connections formed below the cathode 1315 of the touch screen, adjacent drive line segments are electrically connected through electrical connections formed on the cathode of the touch screen . FIG. 13A shows the same plan view of the patterned cathode structure 1350 as shown in FIG. 11A. FIG. 13B illustrates process steps that may be performed to form the patterned cathode structure 1350 of FIG. 13A in cross section X-Y.

Figure 13b-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. An organic passivation 1313 may be formed on the PLN 1311. The OLED layer 1305 may be formed in other areas of the touch screen (as shown in FIG. 13A, not shown in FIG. 13B). Finally, a cathode 1315 may be blanket deposited to cover the organic passivation 1313. [

Figure 13b-2 shows the next step of the exemplary process. A thin-film encapsulation layer (TFE1) 1317 may be deposited over the cathode 1315. [ TFE1 1317 can protect the OLED layer 1305 from the next steps in the process.

Figure 13b-3 shows the next step of the exemplary process. The TFE1 1317 may be etched to partially open the insulating slit 1310. [ OLED layers 1305 in other areas of the touch screen can be protected from etching of TFE1 1317 because the coverage of TFE1 in such areas can protect the OLED layers.

Figure 13b-4 shows the next step of the exemplary process. The cathode 1315 may be etched to complete the opening of the insulating slit 1310. [ By the etching of the cathode 1315 at this stage, the drive line segments 1301 and the sense line 1303 can be defined and the drive line segments 1301 can be defined by the conductive lines between the drive line segments and the sense line Can be electrically isolated from the sensing line due to removal of the cathode material. As described above, OLED layers 1305 in other areas of the touch screen can be protected from etching of the cathode 1315 because the coverage of TFE1 1317 in such areas can protect the OLED layers.

Figure 13b-5 shows the next step in the exemplary process. A thin film encapsulation layer (TFE2 1319) may be deposited and vias 1309 may be etched into TFE1 1317 and TFE2 to permit electrical connection to cathode 1315. [

Figure 13b-6 shows the final step of the exemplary process. A drive line connection 1307 may be formed inside the via 1309 and across the TFE2 1319. [ The driving line connection portion 1307 may be formed of, for example, ITO or IZO. Finally, a thin film layer (TFE3) 1323 can be deposited over the material stack. As shown, the drive line segments 1301 may be electrically connected to each other through other through vias 1309 and drive line connections 1307. [ The drive line segment 1301 may be electrically insulated from the sense line 1303 by the isolation slit 1310. [ Through the above-described process, fabrication of the driving and sense line structures of Fig. 3A can be achieved on OLED layers.

Since the cathode layer (or anode layer in the case of inverted OLED displays) of the present disclosure may be formed on LED layers such as OLED layers, it may be desirable that the cathode layer (or anode layer) be transparent have. Thus, it may be necessary to make the cathode layer thinner. As a result, this can make the sheet resistance of the cathode layer high. High resistances combined at various capacities inherent to the OLED material stack can lead to, for example, increased voltage delays in the drive lines. Thus, it may be desirable to reduce the sheet resistance of the cathode layer. 14A and 14B illustrate an exemplary manner of lowering the sheet resistance of the cathode layer according to the example of this disclosure. 14A and 14B show a top view of the driving and sensing line structure of FIG. 3A on OLED layers 1405. FIG. The driving line connection portion 1407 may correspond to the anode connection portion 1107 or 1207 or the driving line connection portion 1307. [ The extra line 1421 may be formed as a mesh-like structure across the drive line segments 1401 and the sense line 140 and may be formed on the OLED layers 1405 so as not to interfere with the light emitted from the OLED layers. As shown in FIG. The extra line 1421 may be electrically connected to the cathode layer through the via 1409. [ Since the extra line 1421 can be formed between the OLED layers 1405, the extra line need not be as transparent as the cathode layer, which can form the driving line segments 1401 and the sensing line 1403. Thus, the extra lines 1421 can be made thicker than the cathode layer, or can be formed of a low resistance material different from the cathode layer, or both. Accordingly, the effective sheet resistance of the cathode layer can be reduced without affecting the transparency of the cathode layer (i.e., the driving line segments 1401 and the sensing line 1403).

11, 12, or 13, the redundant line 1421 can be formed of the same material and at the same time as the anode connection 1107 or 1207 or the driving line connection 1307. [ FIG. 14A shows an example of a single drive line connection 1407 between adjacent drive line segments 1401. FIG. Fig. 14B shows an example of two drive line connections 1407 between adjacent drive line segments 1401. Fig. More drive line connections 1407 may be used in accordance with the examples of this disclosure.

Sometimes it may be desirable or necessary to connect adjacent drive line segments through drive line connections overlapping the LED layers of the touch screen. This may be the case, for example, in high density AMOLED displays with minimal space between adjacent OLED layers. 15A and 15B illustrate an exemplary process for forming a drive line connection over OLED layers in accordance with the example of this disclosure. 15A shows a top view of a patterned cathode structure 1550 according to an example of the present disclosure. The drive line segments 1501 can be on either side of the sense line 1503 and can be electrically isolated from the sense line by the isolation slit 1510. [ Both of the driving line segments 1501 and the sensing line 1503 may be formed of the cathode 1011 of FIG. OLED layers 1505 may be below drive line segments 1501 and sense line 1503 and may correspond to OLED layers 1009 of FIG. The driving line segments 1501 may be electrically connected to each other through the driving line connecting portion 1507. [ It may be desirable that the drive line connection 1507 partially overlap the OLED layers 1505 and thus the drive line connection 1507 is substantially transparent. The driving line connection portion 1507 may be formed of, for example, ITO or IZO. The drive line connection 1507 may be electrically connected to the drive line segment 1501 via the via 1509. The process steps for fabricating the patterned cathode structure 1550 of FIG. 15A will be described with reference to FIG. 15B, which shows a cross-sectional view of cross section X-Y at each process step.

Figure 15b-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. An anode 1506 may be formed on the PLN 1511. The anode 1506 may correspond to the anode 1007 of FIG. The OLED layer 1505 may be formed on the anode 1506. The OLED layer may correspond to the OLED layer 1009 of FIG. The stacks of the anode 1506 and the OLED layer 1505 may be electrically isolated from each other by an organic passivation 1513. The organic passivation may correspond to the PDL 1005 of FIG. The cathode 1515 may be blanket deposited over the material stack and may correspond to the cathode 1011 of FIG.

Figure 15b-2 shows the next step of the exemplary process. A thin film encapsulation layer (TFE1) 1517 may be formed on the cathode 1515. [ TFE1 1517 can protect OLED layer 1505 from subsequent steps of the process.

Figure 15b-3 shows the next step in the exemplary process. The TFE1 1517 may be etched to partially open the insulating slit 1510. [ OLED layer 1505 can be protected from etching of TFE1 1517 in isolation slit 1510 because the coverage of TFE1 over the OLED layer can protect the OLED layer.

Figure 15b-4 shows the next step in the exemplary process. The cathode 1515 may be etched to complete the opening of the insulating slit 1510. [ At this stage, by etching of the cathode 1515, the driving line segments 1501 and the sensing line 1503 can be defined. The drive line segments 1501 may be electrically isolated from the sensing line 1503 by the organic passivation 1513 and by the removal of the conductive cathode 1515 material between the drive line segments and the sense line. As described above, the OLED layer 1505 can be protected from the etching of the cathode 1515 since the coverage of the TFE1 1517 over the OLED layer can protect the OLED layer.

15B-5 illustrate the next step in the exemplary process. A thin-film encapsulation layer (TFE2; 1519) may be deposited, and vias 1509 may be etched into TFE1 1517 and TFE2 to permit electrical connection to cathode 1515. [

Figure 15B-6 shows the final step of the exemplary process. A drive line connection 1507 may be formed inside the via 1509 and across the TFE2 1519. [ As shown, the drive line segments 1501 may be electrically connected to one another through other through vias 1509 and drive line connections 1507. [ The drive line segments 1501 may be electrically isolated from the sense line 1503 by the isolation slit 1510 and the organic passivation 1513. Through the above-described process, fabrication of the driving and sense line structures of Fig. 3A can be achieved on OLED layers.

Instead of blanket deposition of the cathode layer, and subsequently etching to provide insulation to the driving and sensing segments of the examples of this disclosure, the cathode layer may be deposited through a shadow mask. 16A-16B illustrate an exemplary process for performing shadow mask deposition of a cathode layer according to an example of the present disclosure. 16A shows a plan view of a process of depositing a cathode layer corresponding to drive line segments 1601 and sense line 1603 by using a shadow mask. The shadow mask enables selective deposition of material on the surface through a physical mask positioned between the source of the material being deposited and the surface on which the material is being deposited. Areas in the mask with holes or openings allow material to pass through the surface and be deposited thereon. The regions in the mask without holes or openings prevent the material from passing through, so that no material is deposited in the corresponding regions on the surface. 16A shows the deposition of a drive line segment 1601 and sense line 1603 using three shadow masks. More or fewer shadow masks may be used according to this example. In addition, although the driving and sensing line structures of FIG. 3A are illustrated, it is understood that the sensing and driving line structures of FIG. 3B may be similarly formed.

16A-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. The rows of the alternate drive line segment 1601 may be deposited through a shadow mask with apertures corresponding to the positioning of the drive line segments on the surface of the touch screen. 16A-2 shows the next step in the exemplary process. The sensing line 1603 may be deposited through a shadow mask as described above. 16A-3 illustrate the final stages of an exemplary process. The rows of the remaining alternative drive line segment 1601 may be deposited through a shadow mask as described above. Finally, a thin-film encapsulation layer may be blanket deposited over the drive line segments 1601 and sensing line 1603 to encapsulate the material stack (not shown in Figure 16A). As described throughout this disclosure, it may be necessary to electrically connect adjacent drive line segments 1601 through drive line connections 1607 to form drive lines such as the drive lines 222 of Figure 3A . In this example, the drive line connection portion 1607 may be formed before the shadow mask deposition of the drive line segment 1601 and the sense line 1603. 16B shows a cross-sectional view taken along section line X-Y during the process steps of FIG. 16A for better illustrating drive line connection 1607. FIG.

Figure 16b-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. A drive line connection portion 1607 may be formed on the PLN 1611. [ The driving line connecting portion 1607 may correspond to the anode connecting portion 1107 or 1207, for example. Organic passivation 1613 may be formed on drive line connection 1607 and PLN 1611 and may be etched in via 1609 to allow electrical connection to the drive line connection. An OLED layer 1605 (not shown in Figure 16B) may be formed in other areas of the touch screen. The portion of the driving line segment 1601 of the cathode 1615 may be deposited by a shadow mask. It should also be noted that additional masking is not required to form the portion of the drive line segment 1601 of the cathode 1615, since shadow mask deposition may allow the deposition of a pre-patterned cathode.

Figure 16b-2 shows the next step of the exemplary process. The sensing line 1603 portion of the cathode 1615 may be deposited by a shadow mask. The sensing line 1603 and the driving line segments 1601 can be electrically isolated from each other because there is no electrical connection either in the cathode 1615 or by the driving line connection 1607 or between them I can not. It should be noted that for the reasons described above, it is not necessary to further etch the cathode 1615 to form the sensing line segment 1603 portion of the cathode.

Figure 16b-3 shows the final step of the exemplary process. A thin film encapsulation layer (TFE1) 1617 may be formed on the driving line segment 1601 and the sensing line 1603 portions of the cathode 1615. [ Through the above-described process, fabrication of the driving and sense line structures of Fig. 3A can be achieved on OLED layers. In addition, the shadow mask deposition process of FIG. 16 does not allow any photolithography and etch process steps after forming the OLED layers 1605, which can help prevent damage to the OLED layers on the touch screen.

As an alternative to shadow mask deposition, laser ablation may be performed to form the driving and sensing segments of the examples of this disclosure. 17A and 17B illustrate an exemplary process for performing laser ablation to form driving and sensing segments in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. 17A shows a top view of a process for defining drive line segments 1701 and sense lines 1703 on the surface of a touch screen. Figure 17A-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. A cathode 1715 may be blanket deposited over the surface of the touch screen. 17A-2 shows the second step of the process. The cathode 1715 is laser patterned to scribe out the portions of the cathode 1715 to form drive line segments 1701 and sense lines 1703 so that any cathode material between the drive line segments and the sense lines It can be made nonexistent. Finally, a thin-film encapsulation layer can be blanket deposited over the drive line segments 1701 and sense lines 1703 (not shown in FIG. 17A) to encapsulate the material stack. As described throughout this disclosure, it may be necessary to electrically connect adjacent drive line segments 1701 via drive line connection 1707 to form the same drive line as drive line 222 of FIG. 3A . In this example, the drive line connection 1707 may be formed before the deposition and laser ablation of the cathode 1715 to form the drive line segments 1701 and the sense lines 1703. 17B shows a cross-sectional view taken along section line X-Y during the process steps of FIG. 17A for better illustrating drive line connection 1707. FIG.

Figure 17b-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. A drive line connection portion 1707 may be formed on the PLN 1711. The driving line connecting portion 1707 may correspond to the anode connecting portion 1107 or 1207, for example. Organic passivation 1713 may be formed on drive line connection 1707 and PLN 1711 and may be etched in via 1709 to allow electrical connection to the drive line connection. An OLED layer 1705 (not shown in Figure 17B) may be formed in other areas of the touch screen. The cathode 1715 can be blanket deposited over the material stack.

Figure 17b-2 shows the next step in the exemplary process. The cathode 1715 may be laser patterned to form portions of the drive line segment 1701 and sense line 1703 of the cathode. Drive line segments 1701 and sense line 1703 can be electrically isolated from each other because there is no electrical connection either within the cathode 1715 or by the drive line connection 1707 or between them I can not. In addition, the laser energy used in laser patterning can be adjusted to prevent damage to the material stack beneath the cathode 1715 including the organic passivation 1713.

Figure 17b-3 shows the last step of the exemplary process. A thin film encapsulation layer (TFEl 1717) may be formed on the driving line segment 1701 and the sensing line 1703 portions of the cathode 1715. [ Through the above-described process, fabrication of the driving and sense line structures of Fig. 3A can be achieved on OLED layers.

The drive line segments and sense lines of the present disclosure examples can act as a cathode of the pixel circuit during the display phase of the touch screen such that the drive line segments and the sense line are coupled to the LED emissive layers such as OLED emissive layers It may be desirable to ensure that it is properly covered. Thus, in any of the above-described manufacturing procedures, it may be desirable to modify the distance between adjacent OLED emissive layers to ensure proper cathode layer coverage of the OLED emissive layers. Figures 18A-18D illustrate an exemplary process for modifying the distance between adjacent OLED emissive layers in accordance with the example of this disclosure.

18A and 18B show why OLED emission layer distance modification may be necessary. 18A shows a top view of a portion of a touch screen according to an example of the present disclosure. The drive line segment 1801 may be adjacent to the sense line 1803. The OLED layers 1805 may be covered by a drive line segment 1801 and a sense line 1803, which may act as the cathode of the OLED layers during the display phase of the touch screen.

18B shows a zoomed-in view of the area between the drive line segment 1801 and the sense line 1803. FIG. A drive line segment 1801 may be formed over the OLED layer 1805, which may be formed over the anode 1807. A sensing line 1803 may be formed over the OLED layer 1805, which may be formed over the anode 1807. [ OLED distance 1825 may be the distance between adjacent OLED layers 1805. [ The insulating width 1827 may be the distance between adjacent portions of the cathode 1815, i.e., the distance between the driving line segment 1801 and the sensing line 1803. The minimum anode overlap 1829 may be the minimum distance at which the edge of the anode 1807 needs to extend over the edge of the OLED layer 1805 for the desired OLED operation. The minimum cathode overlap 1831 may be the minimum distance at which the edge of the cathode 1815 needs to extend over the edge of the OLED layer 1805 for the desired OLED operation. The isolation width 1827 can be reduced to nearly zero and the OLED distance 1827 can be reduced to about the same value if the fabrication steps forming the drive line segment 1801 and sense line 1803 do not provide additional constraints on what is provided above. 1825 may be slightly larger than twice the minimum cathode overlap (1831). The OLED distance 1825 can not be reduced exactly twice the minimum cathode overlap 1831 because the drive line segments 1801 and sense line 1803 are preferably electrically isolated from one another for proper touch screen operation Because; Reducing the distance of the OLED to the minimum cathode overlap of two will mean that the isolation width is zero, meaning that the drive line segment 1801 and sense line 1803 will be in contact and will not be electrically isolated from each other something to do.

Occasionally, the process for fabricating the drive line segment 1801 and the sense line 1803 may provide constraints on how closely the drive line segments and sense lines can be formed. That is, the fabrication process used will provide a minimum distance between the drive line segment 1801 and the sense line 1803 that is greater than the minimum distance described above. For example, photolithography and etching may have minimal resolution limitations, or shadow mask deposition may have a minimum mask aperture limit. In this case it may be desirable to adjust only the spacing of adjacent OLED layers 1805 at the edges of the drive line segment 1801 and sense line 1803 so that the spacing of the OLED layers in other areas of the touch screen, Thus, a typical OLED aperture (i. E., The spacing between OLED pixels) may remain unchanged.

Figure 18C illustrates one method of reducing the spacing of OLED layers at the edges of the touch segments (i.e., drive line segments and sense lines). The touch screen 1800 may include a plurality of OLED pixel banks 1802. Each pixel bank may include a plurality of OLED layers 1805; In this example, there may be three: one OLED layer for red light, green light and blue light, respectively. The touch screen may also include a plurality of touch segments 1801 that overlap the pixel banks 1802. Touch segments 1801 may correspond to, for example, drive line segments 301 and sense lines 223 in Figure 3A. The touch segments 1801 may be separated from one another by an isolation width 1827. The dimensions of the OLED layers 1805 adjacent to the touch segment 1801 boundaries can be modified to accommodate the minimum required isolation width 1827, as described above. For example, the rightmost OLED layer 1805 in the pixel bank 1802 B can reduce its size in the x-direction to accommodate the minimum required isolation width 1827 as shown. All dimensions of the OLED layers in the pixel bank 1802 C may be reduced in the y direction for the same reason as above. These modifications may be made to the remaining pixel banks 1802 as needed. However, pixel bank 1802 A does not need to be modified because pixel bank A is not adjacent to the touch segment 1801 boundary as defined. By proceeding with the modifications of the pixel banks 1802 as described above, the general spacing between most OLED layers 1805 on the touchscreen 1800 and their size is minimized by the minimum insulation width 1827, Which allows for the acceptance of the. The process steps for modifying the effective dimensions of certain OLED layers will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of section X-Y of Figure 18c.

18D shows a process for reducing the dimensions of the touch segment boundary OLED layers without the need to modify the shadow mask used to deposit the OLED layers. Figure 18d-1 shows the first step of an exemplary process. An anode 1806 may be formed on the PLN 1811. The anode 1806 may correspond to the anode 1007 of Fig. 10, for example. An organic passivation 1813 may be formed between the anodes 1806 and may correspond to, for example, the PDL 1005 of FIG. OLED layers 1805 can be deposited by a shadow mask (the concept of shadow mask has been described above). The anode 1806 and OLED layer 1805 stacks may be electrically isolated from each other by an organic passivation 1813.

The reduced OLED layer 1807 may be at the boundary of the touch segment 1801 and may be deposited using the same shadow mask as the OLED layers 1805. [ However, during formation of the organic passivation 1813, an enlarged organic passivation 1814 at the boundary of the touch segment 1801 may be formed to extend toward the reduced OLED layer 1807. Thus, during the shadow mask deposition of the OLED layers 1805, a reduced OLED layer 1807 can be partially formed on the anode 1806 and the enlarged organic passivation 1814. A portion of the reduced OLED layer 1807 formed on the enlarged organic passivation 1814 may correspond to a desired reduction in the x-direction reduced OLED layer.

Figure 18d-2 shows the next step in the exemplary process. Touch segments 1801 may be deposited by a shadow mask and insulated from each other by an isolation width 1827.

Figure 18d-3 shows the final step of the exemplary process. A thin-film encapsulating layer (TFE) 1817 can be deposited over the material stack. A portion of the reduced OLED layer 1807 that is not in contact with the anode 1806 may not contribute to the light emitted from the reduced OLED layer because it is not in contact with the anode. Thus, the touch segment 1801 needs to overlap only the portion of the reduced OLED layer that is in contact with the anode 1806, not the entirety of the reduced OLED layer 1807. Thus, the effective dimensions of the reduced OLED layer 1807 may be less than the dimensions of the OLED layers 1805. In the above-described method, the dimensions of the touch segment boundary OLED layers can be reduced without the need to modify the shadow mask used to deposit the OLED layers.

Although the above process has been described with reference only to modifying the dimensions of LED layers such as OLED layers, at the boundaries of the touch segments, the dimensions of the OLED layers adjacent to the drive line connections can be similarly modified. For example, a larger area can be provided in the drive line connection 1807 by modifying the dimensions of the OLED layers 1805 adjacent to the drive line connections in the manner described with reference to Figures 18c and 18d.

While the examples of this disclosure have been fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be noted that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the examples of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Accordingly, in accordance with the foregoing, some examples of the present disclosure relate to a transistor layer, a first layer disposed over a transistor layer and configured to act as a touch circuit, as a light emitting diode (LED) cathode during a display step and during a touch sensing step, And a LED layer disposed between the first layer and the first layer. In addition, or alternatively, in some examples, the LED layer includes an organic light emitting diode (OLED) layer. In addition, or alternatively, in some examples, the transistor layer includes a first transistor connected to the LED layer and a power supply line connected to the first transistor. In addition, or alternatively, in some examples, the power supply line voltage is set to the first voltage during the display step, and the power supply line voltage is set to the second voltage during the touch sensing step. In addition, or alternatively, in some instances, the first voltage causes the LED layer to emit light, and the second voltage causes the LED layer to not emit light. The touch screen further comprises a second transistor connected to the first transistor and a gate voltage line connected to the gate terminal of the second transistor, During the step the gate voltage line is set to the first voltage and during the touch sensing step the gate voltage line is set to the second voltage. In addition, or alternatively, in some instances, the first voltage causes the second transistor to turn on, and the second voltage causes the second transistor to turn off. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, the first layer includes a plurality of drive lines and a plurality of sense lines. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, the drive line includes a first drive line segment and a second drive line segment electrically connected to the first drive line segment by a drive line connection .

Some examples of the present disclosure relate to a touch screen, including the steps of operating a first layer as a cathode of a layer of light emitting diodes (LED) during a display step, and operating the first layer as a touch circuit during a touch sensing step And to a method for operating the same. In addition, or alternatively, in some examples, operating the first layer as the cathode of the LED layer includes operating the first layer as the cathode of the organic light emitting diode (OLED) layer . In some or more embodiments of the above disclosed one or more embodiments, the step of operating the first layer as a cathode of the LED layer further comprises the step of applying a voltage of a power supply line connected to the transistor to cause the LED layer to emit light Wherein the act of operating the first layer as a touch circuit includes setting the voltage of the power supply line to a second voltage that causes the LED layer to not emit light. Operating the first layer as a touch circuit may include operating the first layer as a plurality of drive line segments and a plurality of sense lines, And electrically connecting one drive line segment to the second drive line segment.

Some examples of the present disclosure relate to a method of forming a plurality of LED layers, the method comprising: forming a plurality of LED layers; and forming a plurality of first layers of LEDs over the LED layers, the first layer being operable as a plurality of LED cathodes during a display step, (LED) touch screen, comprising the step of forming a region. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, forming the plurality of LED layers includes forming a plurality of organic light emitting diode (OLED) layers. In some or alternative embodiments of the above disclosed one or more embodiments, forming the plurality of zones of the first layer includes depositing a first layer over the LED layers, and removing portions of the first layer And forming regions of the first layer. In some or alternative embodiments of the above disclosed one or more embodiments, forming the plurality of zones of the first layer includes depositing a first layer over the LED layers, and oxidizing portions of the first layer And forming regions of the first layer. In addition, or alternatively, in some instances, the method includes depositing a second layer over the first layer, and removing portions of the second layer to form regions of the second layer And the second layer protects the LED layer from removal of portions of the first and second layers. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, removing portions of the first and second layers includes etching portions of the first and second layers. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, removing portions of the first layer includes laser ablating portions of the first layer. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, forming the plurality of regions of the first layer includes depositing a first layer using a shadow mask. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, the method further includes modifying the dimensions of the LED layer at the boundaries of one of the plurality of zones of the first layer. In some or more of the above disclosed one or more examples, forming the plurality of zones of the first layer includes forming a plurality of drive line segments and a plurality of sense lines of the first layer, And electrically connecting the first drive line segment to the second drive line segment using a drive line connection. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, the method further comprises forming a drive line connection over the first layer. In addition to or alternatively, in some instances, the method further comprises forming a drive line connection below the first layer.

Claims (25)

A transistor layer;
A first layer disposed over the transistor layer and configured to act as a touch circuit as a light emitting diode (LED) cathode during a display step and during a touch sensing step; And
An LED layer disposed between the transistor layer and the first layer;
And a touch screen. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the LED layer comprises an organic light emitting diode (OLED) layer. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,
A first transistor connected to the LED layer; And
And a power supply line connected to the first transistor. 4. The touch screen of claim 3, wherein the power supply line voltage is set to a first voltage during the display step, and the power supply line voltage is set to a second voltage during the touch sensing step. 5. The touch screen of claim 4, wherein the first voltage causes the LED layer to emit light and the second voltage causes the LED layer to not emit light. The method of claim 3,
A second transistor connected to the first transistor; And
Further comprising a gate voltage line connected to a gate terminal of the second transistor,
Wherein the gate voltage line is set to a first voltage during the display step and the gate voltage line is set to a second voltage during the touch sensing step. 7. The touch screen of claim 6, wherein the first voltage causes the second transistor to turn on and the second voltage causes the second transistor to turn off. 2. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the first layer comprises a plurality of drive lines and a plurality of sense lines. 9. The apparatus according to claim 8,
A first drive line segment; And
And a second drive line segment electrically connected to the first drive line segment by a drive line connection. CLAIMS 1. A method for operating a touch screen,
Operating the first layer as the cathode of the light emitting diode (LED) layer during the display step; And
Operating the first layer as a touch circuit during a touch sensing step
/ RTI > 11. The method of claim 10, wherein operating the first layer as a cathode of the LED layer comprises operating the first layer as a cathode of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) layer. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein operating the first layer as a cathode of the LED layer comprises setting the voltage of a power supply line connected to the transistor to a first voltage that causes the LED layer to emit light,
Wherein operating the first layer as a touch circuit comprises setting the voltage of the power supply line to a second voltage at which the LED layer does not emit light. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein operating the first layer as a touch circuit comprises:
Operating the first layer as a plurality of drive line segments and a plurality of sense lines; And
And electrically connecting the first drive line segment to the second drive line segment. A method for manufacturing a light emitting diode (LED) touch screen,
Forming a plurality of LED layers; And
Forming on the LED layers a plurality of zones of a first layer operable as a plurality of LED cathodes during a display step and configurable to act as a touch circuit during a touch sensing step
/ RTI > 15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming the plurality of LED layers comprises forming a plurality of organic light emitting diode (OLED) layers. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming a plurality of zones of the first layer comprises:
Depositing the first layer over the LED layers; And
Removing portions of the first layer to form regions of the first layer. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming a plurality of zones of the first layer comprises:
Depositing the first layer over the LED layers; And
And oxidizing portions of the first layer to form regions of the first layer. 17. The method of claim 16,
Depositing a second layer over the first layer; And
Further comprising removing portions of the second layer to form regions of the second layer,
Wherein the second layer protects the LED layer from removal of portions of the first layer and the second layer. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein removing portions of the first layer and the second layer comprises etching portions of the first layer and the second layer. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein removing portions of the first layer comprises laser ablating portions of the first layer. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming a plurality of zones of the first layer comprises depositing the first layer using a shadow mask. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising modifying the dimensions of the LED layer at the boundaries of one of the plurality of zones of the first layer. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming a plurality of zones of the first layer comprises:
Forming a plurality of drive line segments and a plurality of sense lines of the first layer; And
And electrically connecting the first drive line segment to the second drive line segment using a drive line connection. 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising forming the drive line connection over the first layer. 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising forming the drive line connection below the first layer.

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